The Inbetween
by lollyg17
Summary: Darkness. That's all that is left in Stella's life. She was supposed to be a Gryffindor, but all she does is hide from the truth. "I'm a monster!" "No, you're not. You know, a wise man once said that the world isn't split into good people and Deatheaters." "Then what am I?" "You're just... one of the inbetween."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I really hope you guys like this story and I would love to have several reviews if I can. Comments and suggestions are always appreciated and feel free to PM me with any story or one-shot ideas that you would like me to create for you and I'll see what I can do for you. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I'm just going to do this once, I do not own the characters except for my OCs.**

Chapter 1

Loud bangs, pops and whizzes sounded. Bright oranges, reds, and yellows were painted on the walls. Several objects flew past Stella's ear, distracting her from the loud noises coming from the numerous gadgets and people within the crowded little Diagon Alley shop. She could barely hear herself think and yet managed to become lost in her imagination, not noticing a man sneak up behind her.

"Is there something I could help you with, love?" A voice broke through Stella's thoughts, making her jump. The girl turned and broke into a smile at the sight of a grinning red-head in a neon-orange tux.

"Fred!" She all but squealed, pulling the older boy into a tight hug.

Fred Weasley, co-owner of the shop Stella was currently standing in – Weasley's Wizard Wheezes – laughed and hugged her back. "So how have you been, Stell?" He loosened his grip around her.

She shrugged, twisting her long blonde hair around her fingers, not sure how to answer. "It's been an average summer I guess, what with all the fuss that's been going on around here with Voldemort. Mum wasn't completely sure she even wanted me to go to Hogwarts this year."

"What made her change her mind?"

"Dad." The blonde laughed. "You know how muggles are; they don't understand the importance of going to a wizarding school, rubbish they say. Without Dad stepping in I'm sure Mum wouldn't have let me go."

Fred broke into his Cheshire grin once more. "Nah, there's no way you wouldn't have figured out some way to come this year, you're too bloody stubborn for your own good."

"Hey-"

"Besides," The red-headed jokester laughed, "me and old Georgie-boy would've come and gotten you."

Stella rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because the flying car a few years back was _so _helpful."

"Fine, ignore my good-natured attempts at being helpful," he feigned mock-hurt and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the colorful doohickeys that were rolling around on one of the shelves above their heads. Stella shook her head and made a mental note to ask him about the strange contraptions later because right now she was being pulled along in a freakishly crowded store to god-knows-where.

"Where are we going?" Stella tried to pull her arm free of Fred's iron grip, but to no avail. "I have to find Lennie so we can finish our shopping."

"We're going to find George and give you and Lennie a personal tour of the shop. Besides, she's probably with him anyway." Fred stopped, his eyes roaming around the shop as Stella still tried to wriggle from his grip. "Hmm, if I were a red-headed idiot named George, where would I be? Ah!" He pulled the two of them towards a magenta door and put a golden key in the lock, "The storage room!"

The door swung open into a medium-sized room stacked ceiling high with boxes labeled with the names of different products on display. In the middle of the room a couple quickly pulled apart, apparently embarrassed by the sudden intrusion. The boy was identical to Fred and donning the same orange tux, though his tie had been undone and his hair mussed. The girl was a bit smaller than Stella, with a small frame and a height of 5'7, and inch shorter than Stella's 5'8. She had chocolaty brown hair, a dark contrast to Stella's golden blonde.

"I told you they would be in here!" Fred said, patting a horror-stricken Stella on the back who did not want to see what she had just witnessed.

"What do you want, Fred?" George straightened up his tie. Next to him Lennie was trying to fix her hair and fight down the blush that appeared to be creeping up on her cheeks.

Fred bounded over to his twin grabbed his arm, pulling him out the door as he did so. "I think we should give our two lovely ladies a personal tour of the shop, shouldn't we?" George's face split into a grin mirroring his brother's as he exclaimed "Brilliant idea, mate!" and grabbed his girlfriend's hand. As the two followed along, every once in a while the twins would have to stop and help customers with questions or finding an item, but they enjoyed the tour all the same.

"Up here is where we keep things such as our Skiving Snack boxes and Puking Pastilles," George spoke as the four of them walked up the colorful staircase.

"Hey guys!" They looked down to see their younger brother, Ron, holding up one of their items. "How much is this?"

"Five galleons."

Ron gave them a _Really? _look. "How much for me?"

"Five galleons."

The younger red-head gave his brothers an incredulous look. "But I'm your brother!"

The twins shrugged and shared a knowing look, "Ten galleons." Stella burst out laughing at Ron's expression as he walked away, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Well, I suppose that concludes our tour." Fred said.

"I hope you enjoyed it-" George continued.

"Feel free to leave a tip for our services," they both finished and the girls went in to give them hugs.

As the two girls exited the shop they spotted their friends waiting outside the shop, Harry waving them over. His glasses were fogged up from sweat and the humid temperature, while both Ron and Hermione both looked uncomfortable as well.

"What took you so long?" Ron complained.

"Your brothers gave us a personal tour," Lennie answered.

"Which-"Stella smirked as she reached into her pocket to draw out some of the various goodies Fred and George had given them, "included free souvenirs."

"What?" The red-head exclaimed in disbelief, throwing his hands in the air in a tantrum, "I'm their brother and I didn't even get a discount."

Stella snorted, "If Fred and George gave a discount to every one of their brothers every time they visited, they would be broke."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stepped in between them, "Break it up, you two, we've got things to do. We need to be at the station in less than two hours."

"I'm not even packed!" Ron exclaimed, just now realizing his mistake.

Hermione huffed. "Typical."

Harry, seemingly paying attention to something else, suddenly said. "Who's that?" A woman was walking down an alleyway next to a tall boy with white-blonde hair. Both appeared to be wearing expensive, hand-tailored clothing.

Ron frowned. "Is it just me or does it seem like Draco and his mummy are two people that don't want to be found?"

"I think we should follow them." Harry suggested, moving to get a closer look at the two Malfoys.

"I think no." Stella said, only to be ignored by the rest of the group, who had begun to follow Harry down the exact path that the Malfoy pair had taken only moments before. She huffed in annoyance and trudged behind the group whilst muttering curse words.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright guys, I'm back! I would like to give a special thanks to ugheunice and Lily Rae for reviewing and I would like to say how fantastic it makes me feel when I receive reviews on my story. Also, to anyone who is interested I love getting PMs from people for one-shot ideas. You do not have to just send me Harry Potter ones, I also accept pretty much any Marvel movie, the Chronicles of Narnia, Sherlock, etc. If you send me one I'll do my best to notify you if I decide to write it and then have it up soon thereafter. Thanks! **

Chapter 2

Stella followed the little group through the dingy alley, trying to ignore the fact that it was dirty and several deadbeat wizards seemed to be passed out along the pathway. She could barely see the two Malfoys enter the shop, leaving her to wonder why the hell a pair of rich wizards would want to go in there.

The shop, titled as Borgan and Burkes, appeared to sell little gizmos and gadgets; nothing of high quality. And the store itself seemed run down. Aside from the peeling wallpaper on the inside, the roof looked like it could cave in at any moment and the front door appeared as if it would fall off its hinges the next time it was opened.

Harry motioned the group to a small store across the street, doing his best to climb up onto the roof and get a better view of the two rich wizards. Stella followed, grabbing Harry's hand as to not fall and break her neck as Hermione down below seemed convinced that she would do.

"This is an awful idea," Hermione groaned as the two on the roof hoisted the bushy-haired girl up.

Ron rolled his eyes from behind her as she turned to help up Lennie. "What do you think they're doing in there?"

"Shh." Hermione put her finger to her lips.

"If we knew we wouldn't be up on this bloody roof, now would we?" Stella said sarcastically.

"Shhh!" Ron glared at Stella as Hermione nudged both of them and pointed to Borgin and Burkes in annoyance.

The five of them watched the wizards in the shop carefully, Stella quickly losing interest at what appeared to be nothing happening. As much as she hated the little Slytherin git, Stella had to admit that he didn't appear to be doing anything illegal and, unfortunately, could not get him arrested.

At some point in time Malfoy seemed to become fed up with the old man that they had been talking to and turn his back to the entrance. It was then that Stella noticed something interesting happen. As he held out his arm to show the man something, the old man seemed to recoil in shock. And was that, fear? The man, finally out of his trance, hurriedly nodded to them and pointed at an object that couldn't be seen from the roof in which Stella was gripping tightly to. Then the Malfoys left the shop, seeming fairly pleased with themselves.

"Did you see that?" Harry asked as they were all climbing down from the roof.

"See what?" Ron wore his ever-present befuddled expression.

"The Dark Mark. It has to be!" Harry spoke with a hint of accusation in his voice. "Malfoy's finally become one of them!"

Hermione's tone was sharp. "Harry, there was no Dark Mark."

"Then what was that Malfoy showed the man to make him jump like that?"

"His face?" Stella supplied, earning a chuckle from Ron and Lennie, and a glare from Hermione.

"Think about it," Harry continued, "now that Lucius Malfoy has been caught, Voldemort's probably going to be looking for more followers, and who better than his most loyal follower's own son?"

"I don't know," Lennie said, "he doesn't really seem like the Deatheater type."

"What? Evil and mean? No definitely not." Ron said sarcastically.

Stella rolled her eyes, "I agree with Lennie. I can picture Malfoy as many things – a ministry worker, a dementor, a ferret –" Ron snorted "but definitely not a Deatheater."

"Yes, that would require work." Lennie added.

"Harry I know you have a grudge with Malfoy, but I really don't think he would stoop this low." Their bushy-haired friend spoke with reason.

"None of you believe me?" Harry asked with disbelief, looking around as hid group of friends. No one spoke.

He grumbled and started walking away from the shop that the Malfoys had been in only a few moments earlier before suddenly stopping, causing Ron to bump into him. "Oi! What was that for?"

"Why was Malfoy in there?"

"Does it matter?" Lennie asked. Stella nodded in agreement with her friend, ready to leave.

Harry crushed those hopes. "He was looking for something. He didn't want to bring it with him though, out of fear of being looked at strangely."

"So?" Stella asked impatiently.

"We need to go in there and find out what Malfoy was looking at." Harry thought aloud, earning a groan from Ron.

"You can't go in!" Hermione all but shrieked, "The old man will know you're up to something. You're Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. If anyone goes in, it can't be you."

"Well good luck then," Ron pushed Hermione towards the door.

"Me?" She asked, taken aback.

"Well it was your idea," Lennie chuckled.

"A very crappy idea, but yours all the same." Stella added, smirking at her friend's discomfort.

Hermione, accepting her fate, put on a brave face and nodded to the group. "I'll be right back." She gulped and walked into the store, head held high as if she were actually a high-society wizard.

"This is not going to end well." Stella sighed, voicing everyone's thoughts. Hermione was no actress, not even close. And she was even worse under pressure.

Harry motioned for her to shut up and pointed at Hermione, who had just gotten the attention of Borgin. She was walking around the shop and pointing things out whilst the old man appeared to look at her skeptically.

"Hermione's failing." Ron stated the obvious. "She couldn't act like Malfoy to save her life." Lennie and Stella shared a knowing look.

"I bet we could do better." Lennie gave a devilish smirk.

Her best friend scoffed. "Not think. We know."

Harry raised one of his eyebrows, but shrugged. "You can't be any worse." The two girls got up and Stella pushed Lennie into the shop first, Stella following behind her friend with a scowl on her face.

"I don't know why you would want to go into a shop like this," Stella sneered, getting the old man's attention, "it absolutely reeks of garbage and useless junk. Nothing worth my time." Stella mentally applauded herself at the very Malfoy-esque comment.

"I've told you before; my mother is into strange artefacts like this." Lennie rolled her eyes, glaring at the random junk laying around on the shelves of the dirty shop.

"Well you can certainly find stuff like this in a better place." Stella scowled.

"I say," Borgin came over to the two girls, "all of the items in this shop are genuine artefacts, one of a kind."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "Well I should hope."

"Excuse me," Hermione butted in, "you were helping me, sir.'

Borgin waved her off and turned back to the two girls. "How can I help you?"

"My mother is interested in artefacts that are," Lennie paused, "unique."

Borgin nodded and walked past a large cabinet to gran something. "How about this?" He came back with a dead-looking hand on a pedestal.

Lennie grimaced. "I don't think she'd like that."  
"That's disgusting." Stella scrunched up her nose.

"Hmm, okay." Borgin went to put away the hand.

"What about this necklace?" Stella yelled to the old man, as the emerald piece of jewelry caught her attention.

Borgin turned around and scurried back to her to pick up the necklace, holding it in the light so that she could see the gems sparkle. "Ah, yes. This is a very unique piece. Name your price."

"I don't think my father would want a necklace." Lennie rolled her eyes.

Stella nudged her "Mother", but thankfully he didn't notice. The two girls sighed in relief.

"Excuse me." Hermione came up to them.

"Not now." Borgin ignored her.

Stella snorted with laughter and smirked at Hermione, who glared at her in return.

"Well I guess I'll be going." Hermione made a point to show that she had meant her statement to refer to Stella and Lennie as well.

"I guess we should also." Lennie sighed.

Stella, keeping up her I'm-better-than-you attitude, sneered "About time" and left the shop with a swift turn of her heel.

"Well that went well." Hermione said sarcastically.

"I thought I was pretty good," Stella said, a smirk on her face.

Lennie laughed, "You actually sounded like Malfoy!"

"How did you do that?" Ron asked, incredulous.

Stella shrugged, "I guess I'm just talented."

"And conceited." Lennie shook her head, a smile on her face.

Stella laughed at her friend and followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione out of Knockturn Alley and into the cleaner streets of Diagon Alley. She was relieved that for now, the talks of Lord Voldemort had come to an end.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm back from vacation and have another chapter for you guys. I'd like to especially thank badassdraco and ugheunice for writing such wonderful reviews. It is people like you guys who review and make me want to get updates out much faster. Thank you to everyone who reads my story!:)**

Chapter 3

"I'm just saying," the entire train compartment seemed to groan at having to listen to Harry's rant once more, "that I really believe that Malfoy's become a Deatheater. I mean, what else could have scared the guy in the shop so much?"

"And I'm just saying that me and the rest of England heard you the first two-hundred times." Stella snapped.

The dark-haired boy glared at his blonde friend, but snapped out of it when Neville gave him a little nudge. He rolled his eyes, but apologized anyway. "Sorry."  
Stella shrugged, "It's okay, just shut up about it."

"You really shouldn't judge someone by the actions of their parents, it's unintelligent and quite rude." Luna spoke from behind her upside-down Quibbler magazine, her voice an ever-present wispy sound. Lennie and Neville nodded in agreement.

Stella, bored with the conversation, leaned back in her seat and tried to ignore the upset Harry, who was knocked out of his stupor by someone opening the door. A sullen-faced Ron entered, back from his Prefects meeting that he had been attending with Hermione. He sat down grumpily, nudging his way forcefully between Harry and Neville, the latter scooting over to make room.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, looking up from his lap.

"That barmy new professor invited her for lunch in his compartment with some other kids." Ron was obviously peeved at not receiving an invitation as well.

"Oh," Harry spoke, trying to ease his friend's tension, "that's alright mate, you'll probably have more fun here with us anyway." Luna nodded her head in silent agreement.

"Oh, right," Ron grumbled, "he said he wanted me to tell you that he would like to meet with you as well." Harry, surprised, stood up and bit farewell to the rest of the people in the compartment, awkwardly leaning. The door slammed shut behind him.

"How rude," Stella crossed her arms, "he could've at least invited all of us. Or me."

"Cocky much?" Lennie teased her friend.

The blonde shrugged, "It's a good look for me." Lennie chuckled.

"The professor's bloody mad," Ron agreed, ignoring her last comment, "he probably just wants to meet Harry because he's famous."

"Wouldn't you?" Lennie asked.

Ron thought about it for a moment. "I suppose."

"Suppose?" Stella asked, incredulous, "I'd be bloody mad if I were a professor at Hogwarts and wasn't curious about the Boy-Who-Lived. But then again, who wouldn't?"

Neville nodded, "I don't think we should be too mad at him.'

Ron sank down in his seat, arms crossed in irritation, and mumbled an "I guess" before leaning back and closing his eyes. Stella watched him and snorted. She would admit that she was tired as well, but decided to wait for a nap because they weren't far from the castle. Instead, she decided to look out the window. Time seemed to pass slowly, and before she knew it she could see the faint outline of the castle.

The cloudless blue sky had turned into a dark night with thousands of twinkling stars in the sky, looking as if someone had flicked yellow paint onto a black canvas. The castle up ahead was a beacon of light, brightness pouring out from every window in the large building and making the night seem less menacing. Stella could hear the excitement of the first years as they _oohed_ and _ahhhed _at their first sight of the magnificent castle, bringing back the remembrance of her first trip there.

All of a sudden, as if a person blew out the flame on a candle, the train went black and Stella was coughing. She could hear her friends next to her as they choked on the smoke that was in the air; Stella waved her hands around, trying to clear the air around her face.

"Bloody hell!" Ron gagged and Stella heard a clunk, followed by a moaning Ron who had hit his head against the wall.

_Knock! Knock!_ A pounding sounded on the door before it opened. "Ron?" Hermione's voice sounded behind a layer of smoke.

"Oh, thank God!" Lennie said, "What's going on?"

"Lennie?" Hermione sounded relieved, "I don't know! Look, the smoke's clearing!"

She was right. Stella could make out the faint outline of Hermione's bushy hair, and Ron waving his arms around his head as if a swarm of bees were attacking. Finally, the smoke was all but gone and the train stopped, ready for the students to get off.

Stella followed behind Ron as all of the student piled out. Like he did every year, Hagrid was waving all of the first years over to him as the other students hopped onto carriages that were being pulled by invisible Thestrals. As her, Lennie, Hermione, and Ron rode off, Stella couldn't help but wonder why one of the train compartments had its shades pulled down, but brushed off the thought.

"Where's Harry?" Ron thought suddenly.

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, "He left after the meal with Professor Slughorn and went to go check out what Malfoy was doing. I hope he didn't get caught, I warned him."

Ron snorted, "Of course you did."

"Can we please not fight?" Lennie snapped. The two grew quiet as they made their way through the little town of Hogsmeade. Stella couldn't help but notice how it looked eerily similar to Daigon Alley, many of the shops being shut down, including Madam Puddyfoots and Zonkos Joke Shop. She made a small cry of sadness about how disappointed Fred and George would be to find that the shop who had inspired their dream was now closed.

Stella was so deep in her unfortunate thoughts that when Lennie told her the carriage had stopped, she had not heard. Ron punched her shoulder, knocking her back to reality. "Ow, what in the bloody name was that for?"

"It's time to go."

She looked around slowly before declaring that, yes, it was time to go, and hopped onto the ground, following her friends into the large castle in which a large feast awaited them.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's another chapter; I would love to get some feedback on what you guys think! I would like to say thanks to ugheunice and PotterDuckx for reviewing, and a very special thanks to Nimbus Llewelyn for helping me make this story better. Thanks to all of the people who read this story and I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 4

_ "Estella, are you ready to go?" Her mother's voice rang from the kitchen below._

_ "I'll be down in a second, mum!" A young Stella bounced up and down in excitement as she packed her trunk. It was soon to be her second year at Hogwarts and the Weasleys had invited her family to lunch before they would be heading to the train station. The young girl grabbed her wand from the night table before heading downstairs with her bag, her golden hair flapping as she hopped down each step._

_ "Ready!" She called, and her dad put down the paper that he was reading to stand up from the kitchen table._

_ "Alright, Mrs. Weasley should be expecting us," Stella's mother held a small burlap sack in her hands, "What did she say their home was called? The Burrow! Alright-" she walked to the fireplace with the bag, "we're going to use floo powder. John, do you want to go first?"_

_ Her father stood up, somewhat reluctantly, and took some of the powder from the bag. Stella's father had never liked traveling by magic, always complaining that it made him queasy. He was a muggle, unlike Stella's mother who was a Pureblood wizard._

_ They met not unlike a fairytale story; her mother, who had recently graduated Hogwarts, had decided to get a drink in a local coffee shop one day after a hard day at the Ministry. She was a pretty woman – tall, slender, with chocolate brown hair that matched her dark eyes – who had caught the eye of the young cashier working there. No one could deny that he was handsome, for he had merry blue eyes, golden-blonde hair, and a mischievous smirk that stretched across his face. Unbeknownst to the girl, as she left the shop she had managed to leave her purse behind. Later that day she would come to find the mischievous boy standing outside her door, holding her purse._

_ "If I must," Johnathan Heartstrong threw the powder onto the ground and yelled "The Burrow!" at the same time, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Stella giggled, thinking about the sickly expression on her father's face as he left._

_ "Your turn." Her mother held the bag out to her._

_ The young girl smiled and threw the powder onto the fireplace floor. "The Burrow!" Stella felt a rush of adrenaline through her body as her feet left the ground and her insides twisted. An array of colors circled around her head and muddled together. And just like that, it was gone and she stumbled into a large family room, in which a large group of red-heads were staring at her._

_ "Stella!" The blonde turned around to find herself engulfed in the arms of a dark-haired girl._

_ "Lennie!" Stella hugged her best friend. The two had known each other practically since birth, both of their father's being close friends. Lenin Weston was a muggleborn who was second in their class under Hermione._

_ "Hey Stella." Ron waved to her from beside Harry. Stella grinned; Harry Potter was another one of her good friends. They had met last year during potions class when Snape had seated them together. Ron was another case. Of course the two of them were friends, but they had a love-hate relationship._

_ Whoosh. Stella's mother appeared in the fireplace with a puff of smoke, carrying behind her the trunk that Stella had left in the living room. "I think you forgot something."_

_ Stella gave her mother a sheepish look and turned away. "Sorry."_

_ "Stella dear, is that you?" A plump red-headed woman came in the room, a smile stretched across her face. Stella nodded and the woman gave her a hug, "It's great to finally meet you!" She turned to the girl's parents, "And you must be Liza and John Heartstrong. I'm sorry but my husband will be a little late, he just called and said that he's being held up at the Ministry."_

_ "Not a problem," John replied, shaking her hand. "Liz has to stay late all the time." Stella's mom nodded in agreement._

_ "Hey, want to go outside and play Quidditch?" A tall red-head came up behind the blonde. Stella gave him a confused expression and ignored him, for she did not know who he was._

_ "You know, it's not nice to ignore people." Stella jumped, finding a boy who looked exactly the same as the last one on her other side._

_ "Oi Georgie, you scared her!" The twin who had spoken originally said._

_ The other chuckled, "I s'pose I can get carried away sometimes, Freddie."_

_ "So, do you wanna play?" Georgie asked._

_ Stella shrugged. She had seen the kids at Hogwarts play it before, but she had never actually participated._

_ "You're not scared are you, Princess?" Freddie teased, earning a glare from the shorter blonde._

_ "Oh I think she is, Freddie!"_

_ "No I'm not!" Stella pouted and crossed her arms._

_ "Then let's play!" Both the twins spoke in unison._

_ "I don't know how." Stella muttered._

_ Freddie gave her a grin. "Well you're in luck, 'cuz we happen to be the best Quidditch players around," he pushed her towards the door, "By the way, I'm Fred and that's George."_

Stella awoke from her nap with a start, before realizing that the dormitory was empty. After Harry had walked in with a bloody face last night and told everyone that Malfoy had hit him, Stella had decided to head to the common room for a nap, not ready to face more talk about Malfoy being a Deatheater. Looking at the clock, Stella realized with a start that she had taken more than a nap and that breakfast was going on at that very moment.

She cursed under her breath and decided to skip, knowing that Hermione would most likely bring up her class schedule. Instead, she focused on getting ready, trying to ignore her growling stomach and tripping over her trunk in the process. She cursed herself once more and looked for her wand so she could fix her hair.

"Hey, I've got your schedule!" Hermione came in the room, waving the paper in the air. Stella groaned._  
_


End file.
